First Date Do Over
by Derbs92
Summary: Chloe's first date with Simon didn't go so well. Will her first date with Derek be any better?
1. The Invitation

**This is my first attempt at a multi chaptered cheesefest. A special thanks to my beta reader bodyandsoul.**

**I do not own Darkest Powers.**

Derek and I were sitting on the edge of the swimming pool at our umpteenth hotel. He'd been giving me funny looks all night. He was making me kind of nervous.

"Derek, is there something wrong?"

"What? No . . . why?"

Something wasn't right. He sounded flustered and not very convincing. "You just keep looking at me funny, and then you open your mouth then snap it shut. Did you want to ask me something?"

"No. . . Yes . . . Ahhh would you . . ." the last part trailed off into a mumble.

I hated being pushy but I had no idea what he'd just said. Did he need to Change? "What was that? I didn't quite catch it."

A deep breath "Would you go to the dance with me?"

In all of the scenarios I was running through in my head, that wasn't the question I'd expected. He'd caught me totally off guard. "What are you talking about Derek? What dance?"

He started talking really fast, like it was something he was forcing himself to say "I heard that group of kids talking about it when we were at McDonalds. It's this Friday at the high school. It's their semi-formal." This time he met my eyes, "Do you want to go?"

"Uh, do you want to go?" I was still stumped. Why was he asking me this?

"Well no, not really. I guess I thought this was something you had been looking forward to in your old life. I just thought maybe you wanted to live like normal teenagers for a day."

"Really, I'm ok. Yes, I was looking forward to it. But, no, I don't need to go."

This time there was a bit of an impatient sigh "I know you don't need to, but I think you'd have fun. Please for me? It'd make me feel better if I could do this for you."

If I was honest it was something I wanted to do, and I'd never been on a date with Derek. We'd been through enough experiences that we were comfortable in a way that people who'd dated for years couldn't manage, but we'd missed out on all of that first dateness. I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek "Yes Derek, I would like to go to the dance with you."

* * *

When I got back to my room, I told Tori and Lauren about my plans for Friday night. My aunt surprised me by offering to take me shopping for something to wear.

"Really, you'd want to do that for a date with Derek?"

Lauren sighed, "This is what I always wanted for you, a normal life. I ruined your chances for that. I can't begrudge you your chance to have regular high school fun."

I put an arm around her shoulder. "You didn't ruin anything, the Edison Group and their lies did. You did what you thought was best for me and mom."

"Oo oo oo. I want to help too." I gave Tori a suspicious look. "What? Like I have anything better to do. I haven't seen the inside of a mall in months."


	2. Getting Ready

**I know this is fast, but I wanted to get the ball rolling :) Thanks again bodyand soul!**

**I am (obviously) not Kelley Armstong.**

Friday morning we set out for the mall. We started in the trendy stores - where obviously formal season was in full swing. I have to admit, Tori is a great shopping partner. She had a good eye, and was able to tell at a glance whether something would be flattering or not. She threw a bunch of dresses at me, and then she looked through the racks for herself. She joined me in the dressing room and we tried on dozens of dresses in vivid colors. Some of the dresses were low cut, some with sequins, and some with flounces. Having Tori in the dressing room with me made it really fun, but nothing seemed right. Everything was too much. Too bright. Too flashy. Too much money. We were all watching our spending, and I didn't feel I could justify spending that much on a dress to crash a party.

Lauren dragged us into a higher end department store and over to the women's section. Where we raked through the clearance racks. One of the benefits of being built little is that the biggest sale selection is always the super smalls and super bigs. Still, nothing was tripping my trigger. It all looked so . . .matronly. It was Tori who reached in and pulled out a little slate blue dress. I couldn't seen anything in it all, it hung like a rag on the hanger, but Tori insisted I try it on. I've always been a fan of the color and I was getting to the point where I'd try on anything to find the right dress. Time was getting short. Putting it on was a huge surprise. The cut of the dress was the most flattering thing I've ever worn. It made me feel beautiful. I wasn't short and skinny anymore, I was petite and slim and elegant.

I stepped out of the dressing room. "I think we have a winner."

Tori had a huge grin on her face "Definitely. I can't believe I'd ever say this, but I was getting sick of trying things on. Now for the rest of you."

The makeup counter of the department stores was offering free make-overs. I was pretty hesitant because truth be told, the woman at the counter could give a clown a run for his money. Tori whispered in my ear "We can always wash it off when we get home" and we volunteered for the full treatment. The woman had an amazingly deft hand when it came to makeup. She gave Tori deliciously smoky eyes, that made her look like a knockout.

When it was my turn told her that I usually didn't wear makeup, and she respected that. I didn't get the smoky eye treatment, which was good. When I'd tried it in the past, I'd always ended up looking like a little kid who'd gotten into her mother's makeup drawer. Instead she gave me that fresh face look that looked totally natural, but better.

"Come on girls, we've got to get going. We've got an appointment to keep" Aunt Lauren ignored my confused look. She took me down the hall to a hair salon. "Next stop"

"Good call, Lauren" Tori commented "That hair makes her look like a total skank."

Maybe not so much skank as skunk. The blond had started to grow back out and even though I've washed my hair a million times, all it's done is turned my hair to the color of a ten year old black t-shirt. "Temporary" black dye on blond hair is a total lie.

"We've got a 3:00 appointment for Carley Smith for a corrective color."

"Oh sure. Have a seat and Sandy will be right with you"

After about ten minutes a bleach blond tanorexic came over. "Wow, you really did a number on your hair didn't you?"

"I lost a bet. It said temporary on the box, but I can't get it out. Can you help me?"

Sandy gave me a sympathetic smile "Yeah, the "temporary" thing is more for older women trying to cover grays. It will cover them for a little while, but gray hair doesn't hold color well. I'm surprised it didn't have a disclaimer on the box." It very well could have. I just didn't see it in that dark bathroom. I didn't even know what color I was putting on.

"Let's see" she pulled my hair flat against my head so she could inspect my roots "I don't think I can get that back. If you want to be a blond, your only option is to shave it bald and start all over again."

"That's ok, I think I'd like to try something else anyway. Maybe something to make me look a little bit older?"

"You have amazing skin- that light clear completion is to die for, and with your blue eyes. . . have you ever thought of red?"

"Like red red?" I was thinking of the streaks I'd had in my hair. Derek had mentioned it as a possible color choice when he was trying to cheer me up. I wonder if that means he'd like to see it red.

"No, let me get the color swatches." She came back with a ring full of hair samples. She flicked through a few and held a couple up to my face. "How about this one?"

She was holding up a beautiful russet color. I'm not sure if I could pull it off. I mean I don't know what color I'd look good with, I only know it's not black. "uhhh"

"Trust me, it'll be great. First though we'll have to strip out what color we can." She came back with some purple goop that she painted all over the black, but didn't use on the roots.

"So are you going to that dance at Hawthorne tonight?" I had no idea. Derek had never mentioned the name of the school. It's probably the one we were going to. No point in lying.

"Yeah, I am."

"That's cool, my little sister is going to. Do you know Amber Jones?" Oh, I guess there was a point in lying.

"No, my boyfriend goes there. So I don't really know anyone." ooo I think I was getting kind of good at this lying thing. No stutter at all.

"Tell you what, let me style it for you. It'll be my treat."

"Thanks that's really nice of you."

After letting the goop sit on it for at least thirty minutes, she washed it out and blew it dry. It was a super unattractive grey color. "Sorry, I know this is the scary part, but if I'd just put on the new color over what you had. You still would have been two toned. It would have just been two tones of red. And color always has to go on dry hair.

She then used a bottle with a nozzle on the top to cover my head in some red-orange goop. I'd given up what to expect with the colors when they went on. This sat on for another twenty minutes. Then she washed it. When she brought me back to her chair, she faced me away from the mirror.

"Sorry, I feel all "what not to wear" and I want it to be a surprise. You'll probably find you have a much easier time styling it. I bet your hair was baby fine before."

"It was."

"Yeah, sometimes you've got to roughen it up a little bit with some chemicals so you can do something with it. I'm going to trim a bit of the worst stuff off the ends."

She cut, and blew me dry and then some twisting and pulling and stuck in a few bobby pins. She turned me back to the mirror with a triumphant "voila"

She'd pinned up the front half, and the back trailed to just below my shoulders. It looked so healthy, and it felt much thicker. It did make me look older, and my skin seemed to glow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sandy gave me her card, and I gave her a huge tip. What we saved on the dress, we blew on the hair. But it was totally worth it.

This is how I'd imagined getting ready for my first date. I could only hope the rest of the date went as well.


	3. Picking up Chloe

Thanks for all the reviews! This is very fun to write. And another special thanks to bodyandsoul for her beta help!

Burning question for you. Do any of you watch SYTYCD? In my mind Kent is totally a non-asian Simon. That innocent face, the charm and that quick smile that completely transforms him? - change the eyes and he'd be perfect. Do you think Simon can dance?

I do not own Kelley Armstong. If I did, I would force her to write faster.

* * *

Derek

I heard Lauren, Tori and Chloe get back to their room about an hour ago. They were chatting and giggling. It was good to hear Chloe laugh. I'm glad that my suggestion could do that for her. I was getting stressed out. This was probably a bad idea. I'd gone to the thrift store down the street earlier and bought a plain button down shirt and a pair of black pants. I'd looked at ties, but I couldn't stand the idea of something wrapped around my neck. If someone were to attack, they could use it against me. Hold me or strangle me with it. It would hinder my fighting skills. Probably not something we needed to worry about at a high school dance, but I wasn't going to take the chance when I was with Chloe.

Finally it was 7:00. I knocked on the door separating our rooms. Dad and Simon were watching. I felt kind of dumb, but I guess I wanted it to be as much like a real date as possible. Chloe opened the door with a big smile on her face. Her hair was a red color and she seemed to almost glow. I was dumbstruck. I didn't say or do anything - for a long time.

Her smile faded.

Shit I was messing this up. I didn't know what to say. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I'm glad you're wearing your necklace. It's safer."

She looked confused. "Yeah. It's the one thing I didn't change today."

Oh. Shit. I guess I should have said something about her looking different. "You colored your hair."

"Yeah. I did."

I stood there - mute again.

"It looks really awesome" Simon jumped in. "That color is really pretty on you. I may have to develop a thing for redheads instead of blonds." He gave her a grin. Simon always knew what to say. He had all the charm.

"Thanks Simon. I wasn't sure when she suggested it, but I really like how it turned out."

I noticed Tori and Lauren both giving me dirty looks behind her. Arrgh what was I supposed to say? I'm just not good at stuff like this. . .I gave up. "We should get going."

"Oh. Yeah. See you guys later." Now she looked near tears. What did I do?

As we were headed out the door, Simon grabbed my arm and hissed in my ear, "Give her a compliment, dumbass. Tell her that dress makes her eyes look really blue."

"Her eyes _are_ really blue."

Simon rolled his eyes and slapped the back of my head. "Just do it. Trust me, she needs to hear something from you."

We walked to the van in silence. Traffic from the nearby highway wasn't loud, but it was noticeable. Chloe's shoes scuffed the loose pebbles that were scattered on the pavement. I racked my brain for something to say. Weather. Don't people talk about the weather? "Nice night." It was a nice night. Cool but not cold. Still a dumb thing to say.

Chloe gave me a wry smile that seemed to say: really? you're talking about the weather? "Yeah, it is."

I was ruining things already. I was trying to think of something else to talk about, or a good compliment when Chloe broke the quiet, "You look really good tonight. I like that shade of green on you"

"Uh. Thanks."

Quiet.

"Ummmmm you look . . ." I struggled for a word. Nice didn't seem to cut it, and she just said I looked good. I didn't want it to sound like I was just repeating what she said because I thought I was supposed to. This is why I kept failing English. Words weren't my strong point. I cursed under my breath.

"Shit? Did you just say I look like shit?" She looked hurt and confused.

Arrrrgh. Why did I keep messing things up? Couldn't I do anything right? "No! Of course not. I . . . uh . . . just couldn't think of a good word. I was swearing at myself."

"You couldn't think of a good word." She said slowly, trying out the idea.

"Well nothing I can think of seems to do you justice. . . you're . . . you're . . ." Ack, why can't my brain come up with a word to explain to her how I felt. I know she looked good, and if I really analyzed it, probably better than usual, but she always looked good to me.

She looked curious "yes?"

I stopped next to the van, and looked her in the eye "You're . . . perfect."

She blushed, but a big smile lit her face "I think that word is just fine."


	4. Dinner

**Thanks again for the reviews! They totally make me want to write faster. bodyandsoul, you continue to be great - so much help on this chapter.**

**I don't own the darkest powers.**

* * *

It felt odd to walk into a restaurant with Derek, a nice restaurant no less. It looked like the stereotypical Italian restaurants you see in mob movies with exposed brick walls, checkered tablecloths and drippy candles set in wine bottles. The waiters were all in black pants and immaculate white shirts with bowties. It smelled divine.

I know the rule, you're not supposed to have Italian on a first date. There is the risk of marinara mishaps not to mention having to deal with stinky breath (though I've heard this doesn't count if you've both had it). But I hadn't had a good hot meal in a long time, and the scents of garlic, basil and oregano were making my mouth water. For the last few weeks we'd been making do with pizza, subs and fast food. We balanced out the sodium/fat overload where we could by having our hotel rooms fridges stocked with fruit and vegetables. Breakfast was inevitably cold cereal with milk. I was dying for a "home cooked" meal, and judging by the mom and pop atmosphere that's what we'd be getting.

The hostess gave Derek a wine menu, but the server must have had a better eye for ages and took it away with a sharp "you won't be needing that." Derek had asked for, and received a corner table. He maneuvered the chairs until they were to his liking, had me sit in one and then he took the corner spot. His eyes were constantly scanning the restaurant, I'm sure analyzing ever face that he saw, trying to figure out if someone could be a spy for the Edison group. But for all of that, he was surprisingly talkative. We swapped tales of growing up. His were all centered around Kit and Simon. Mine were all centered around friends.

The food was delicious. Derek ordered a piece of lasagna the size of a toaster. On the server's recommendation I tried the Spaghetti alla Bella Donna. It was spaghetti with anchovies, pine nuts and raisins. I know it sounds really weird, but it was soooooo good. Derek finished all of his and ate about two-thirds of mine too. Not that he was stealing food from me. I was almost full before the meal had even gotten to us. Both had come with salads and unlimited bread to dip in a plate of flavored oil. I couldn't stop eating that bread. My stomach felt like it was going to burst.

After the waiter came by to remove our empty plates, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. On my way back, I walked by the kitchen and the door flew open as a waiter rushed through. I should have known. Every stereotype is based on something. The restaurant looked like a mob restaurant because that's what it was. Or had been, anyways. I only had a quick glimpse, but it was enough.

There was a man strapped to the prep island in the middle of the kitchen, one leg had already been amputated just below the knee, blood everywhere. Two burly men held out an arm, while another, smaller guy took what looked like a mini chainsaw and started just above the elbow. The man on the table's mouth was open in a silent scream. The door swung shut on the gruesome scene. I knew it was the echo of an earlier event. No way would they be pulling that with a restaurant full of people, but still, my stomach rolled. I know it was weak of me, but I had to get out of here. The friendly warm atmosphere of the restaurant became hot and oppressive in a blink of an eye. I had to get some fresh air, before everything I'd eaten came up.

I quickened my pace to the table and asked Derek for the keys. I told him I'd meet him at the van.

Derek had been looking at the dessert menu, but quickly put it down. He looked at me in concern "What hap-" He interrupted himself. "not important right now. I'll come with you; I don't think you should be alone."

"What about the bill?"

He grabbed his wallet and threw three twenties on the table. "That should take care of it. Hell of a tip, but I don't feel like waiting around for change."

He hustled me out to the van, one arm slung around me protectively.

He put the keys in the ignition, but then dropped his hand and turned and looked at me. "What happened? Are you ok? Did someone –"

"It's a lot easier for me to tell you what happened if you would let me talk" I told him what I had seen. "It wasn't the blood so much as the terror on the guys face. They were torturing him. Although the idea of our food being prepared on that same table isn't exactly something I want to think about either."

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?"

"No, if we went back, I have nothing to do but replay that scene over and over again. Right now I just want a distraction, something to keep my mind from it."

He got a speculative look in his eye, and then he leaned over and kissed me. As far as distractions go, that one tops my list.

After a few minutes he leaned back again "Now do you want to go back to the hotel?" and he waggled his eyebrows.

I snorted a laugh.

"Riiiiiiiiight, you make it sound so dirty. You know if we did, we'd just end up sitting around playing "Monopoly" with everyone. Let's go to the dance." Truth was if I didn't learn to control my emotions after seeing things like that, I'd have to find the perfect safe haven and never leave it. I couldn't hole up every time I saw something. I would end up becoming a prisoner to my fears.

* * *

**Next up is dancing!**


	5. Dance

**Thanks for all of the great reviews. They totally make my day. bodyandsoul continued stellarness.**

**I do not own Darkest Powers.**

* * *

Derek

We pulled up to the school outside of the gym. I smelled Tori and Simon as soon as I got out of the car. Chloe, however, never noticed them and jumped about a foot when Simon stepped out of the shadows.

"W-w-w-what are you guys doing here?"

Tori gave a snort "You didn't expect us to sit around the hotel room while you guys had all the fun, did you?"

"Um . . . No, I guess not." Chloe didn't seem mad, just a little confused. "You look great. When did you get that dress?"

"Are you kidding, you were in the salon for two hours, I had plenty of time to find something."

"Hey, bro. Hope you don't mind." Simon was wearing a tie - I'd have to talk to him about the dangers of that later. "She was coming regardless, and I thought it'd be better if it was both of us. That way you won't have to worry about being by yourself while they go off to do their girl things, bathroom herds and the like."

"No problem." I didn't mind standing by myself, but it did make me feel better to know that Chloe wouldn't be by herself in the bathrooms. Especially after what happened in the restaurant.

"So what are we waiting for?" Tori demanded "Let's go."

Turns out to be a good thing they were here. Teachers were looking at student id's at the main door, and while I could have broken a lock to get us in, it was much cleaner to have Simon use a spell to unlock a side door while Tori cloaked us with a different spell.

The dance was being held in the school cafeteria. All of the tables must have been packed away in a storage room. Streamers covered the wall and the only break to the darkness was the rotating light display on the makeshift stage where the deejay was standing. You might not have even realized it was a cafeteria if it wasn't for the potent smell of tater tots. I didn't feel the safest here. The extra loud music and the heavy base screwed up my ears, and the flashing strobe light messed with my night vision.

Almost as soon as we had staked out a spot in the corner, next to an emergency exit, some guy came over and asked Tori to dance. She said yes and walked out onto the floor.

Chloe's was tapping her toe to the beat.

Simon pulled me down to talk in my ear. "Aren't you going to ask her to dance?"

Dance? Shit. I really didn't think this through. I suppose it was eighty-seven kinds of dumb, but I honestly didn't think about the dancing part of going to a dance at all.

"uhhhhh"

Another eye roll from Simon. I'm surprised with all the eye rolling I was getting that he didn't get a headache. "Dude, what were you expecting. Just standing around watching people all night?"

"I told you there was a reason I didn't play the drums."

He looked confused for a second and then his face cleared up "Oh yeah, your timing sucks, but you know that's not the same thing at all."

"Maybe, but this isn't where I want to put it to the test."

"Do you care if I ask her? I'd like to get out on the floor."

I didn't mind Simon dancing with Chloe. I suppose it was a pack thing. We'd talked about our feelings. Ok, he talked I grunted. Still, I believed him when he said he didn't like Chloe. Well he liked her, a lot, but not in a boyfriend girlfriend kind of way. I'd say like a sister, but most teenage guys I know didn't really like their sisters, at least they didn't act like it. More like a best friend. Someone who he could talk to that would actually talk back.

"Would you? That would be great. I want her to have fun. Make sure you stay - "

Simon cut me off "where you can see us. I know."

Neither Simon nor Chloe were a particularly good dancer. I saw both of them wincing good naturedly as the other one would step on their foot. But they were smiling and having fun. Which is exactly what I wanted for Chloe.

Tori came back over. She was slightly sweaty. It was hot in here.

"That guy got a little handsie. I gave him two warnings. Then I froze him so I could get away."

I looked at her incredulously "You can't just use your powers like that. We'll be found out."

"Chill, Wolfboy. I just froze him for a second. It was long enough that he lost his balance and fell over. He'll just think he tripped over his own feet. It's not like he was a good dancer in the first place."

I gave her a glare, but I dropped it.

"Speaking of bad dancers, why'd you subject Chloe to that?" I looked just in time to see Simon dip Chloe awkwardly.

"Still better than I could do."

"I thought werewolves were supposed to be innately graceful."

"What have you been reading?"

"I've been doing my research"

"I don't think cheesy romance novels really count as research"

"You're the one who said the stories had nuggets of facts in them."

"Well just to clarify, I don't change with the full moon, silver bullets don't hurt me any more than regular bullets and I don't dance."

"You forgot to add that you don't make every woman in a 50 foot radius swoon."

I grunted. That one was obvious.

"Although . . . Now that I'm looking, I do see quite a few girls checking you out. Here come some now."

I glanced in the direction Tori was looking, and saw a group of five girls talking behind their hands and giggling. Great, just what the night needed. Simonites. They must have seen me walk in with him earlier and wanted an introduction. What parents let their kids out of the house dressed like that?

The tallest one approached me. "Do you want to dance?"

"No." Short and direct had always put girls like this off in the past. I give them about thirty seconds before I was called an asshole and then they'd stomp off like they always do.

She giggled "Me either. I don't think I've seen you before, and I know I'd remember you." another giggle accompanied by a hand to my bicep.

I didn't respond, but I did pull my arm away.

Another one tried. "What sports do you play? You're either a football player or a wrestler or both." Then she pressed herself up against me. "I love to wrestle. Will you be my grappling partner?" and gave me what I'm sure she thought was a coy look. This was an unwelcome change of pace. Usually, they tried being friendly for a while asked about Simon and then huffed off.

I didn't even bother to look at her when I said "He's not interested." I pried her arms from around me and took a step back. Right into another one. She grabbed my ass.

"Oops. Sorry I couldn't resist. This is too fine to be left alone."

They seemed to be hunting me like a pack. One herding me into another. Why wasn't my anti-charm working? Then I got a good whiff of what I was up against. Oh my God. These girls were drunk, and it wasn't Simon they were stalking.

I started to panic. I cast around for an ally. Beggars can't be choosers and my only choice seemed to be . . . "Tori."

She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers "No power. Remember?"

One of them turned to see who I was looking at. After a vicious glare at Tori, she looked back at me. "What is _that_? Your girlfriend?"

"No." Shit. The response was automatic. Dammit I should have lied. I didn't know how to make these girls back off.

"Good." And then she grabbed my crotch. Her eyes widened and she looked at her friends with a smirk. "Girls, I think we have a winner over here."

Just then I saw Chloe hurrying over Simon tailing right behind. I pushed the newest girl's hand away and took two huge strides over to Chloe. I wrapped my arms around her, with her facing out and then I turned back to face the girls. Yes, I was using her as a shield, but I knew she would understand.

I gave the girls my meanest glower and said. "_This_ is my girlfriend. Now fuck off."

Three of them looked at me and called me "Asshole" and they all stomped away. Finally.

"Wolfboy the look on your face was priceless. I take back what I say about girls swooning, though I still don't see what the attraction is."

Chloe gave Tori a dirty look. "Those girls were m-m-m-molesting him and you didn't do anything about it?"

Tori sneered back "He's a big boy, and from what I hear in more ways than one. I'm going to go find someone to dance with." And with that, she flounced off.

Simon looked wistfully at a different group of girls in another corner. "I think I will too." Then he asked me in mock concerned "That is if you're ok?"

"Would you keep Chloe company for two minutes first? I've got to run to the bathroom."

When I got back Simon was by himself. Chloe was nowhere to be seen.


	6. Dance part2

**Sorry this took so much longer than all of my other updates. I had a block. Thanks to bodyandsoul for helping me break through it!**

**I don't own DP or any of the cuties therein.**

* * *

Derek

What happened to Chloe?" I yelled to be heard over the music.

"What?" Simon yelled back

"Where. Is. Chloe?" It took all I had for me not to shake him.

Simon looked away guiltily "Oh. She's dancing with some guy, I'm sure she's on the floor. . ."

_"You lost Chloe?" _I asked, just to verify this was really happening.

Tori sauntered over, "What's going on? Where is Chloe?"

"Simon lost her."

"I didn't lose her. She's out there," he gestured to the dance floor and added hesitantly "somewhere."

Argh. As short as she was I was never going to find her. I started to stomp off to the middle of the floor calling her name when Tori grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"I thought we were going to be discrete."

I gave her a look that clearly said: Chloe's safety takes precedence over being discrete.

A big huffy sigh, "Let's go out together and pretend to dance. That way we can look around without calling attention to ourselves."

"Fine." We walked out to the middle of the floor together. Tori turned towards me and lightly rested her hands on top of my shoulders. I wasn't paying attention to Tori at all. I scanned the crowd. She waved her hand in front of my face, and I gave her a dirty look. "I'm doing this for you two you know, it's not like I want to dance with you. Put your hands on my hips." I did that "Now just sway to the beat, we can turn in a circle so you can look out over the whole floor." I basically tuned her out after that. Even though she's taller than Chloe, I could still easily see over her head, as well as almost every other dancer on the floor.

We'd almost made a full circle when Tori pinched my arm to get my attention. "I found her. To your right."

I looked and there she was. She was dancing with a very tall, very thin guy. He was wearing a white button down and tie. His pants started above his belly button and ended above his ankles. White socks were prominently on display above black tennis shoes. His hair looked greasy, and while he wasn't as bad as I was at my worst, his skin could use a little work.

Chloe was smiling politely while her eyes looked out in the direction we'd been standing earlier. As short as she was, I know she couldn't have seen anything but armpits. They came around in their own circle, and since it would have been too awkward to stare behind her, she did a quick survey around the dance floor. Then she saw me. Her eyes widened. She gave me a pleading look and mouthed. "Save me."

Keep it cool I told myself. I steered Tori over to where they were dancing, dropped my arms and turned away from her. I tapped the guy on the shoulder, "Can I cut in?"

He didn't even look at me. He was staring adoringly at Chloe "No."

I moved around so I'd be in his line of vision. "That's my girlfriend you're dancing with."

"Funny, she asked me to dance. So you must not be cutting it."

Chloe asked this guy to dance? What was going on?

Then he turned to look at her. "Do you want to go with this joker?"

"I-I-I-I-"

"See she's happy dancing with me. She's all tongue tied"

I snorted in disbelief "She has a stutter." At this Chloe gave me a glare. What did I say now? It's true. She does have a stutter. Probably not something she wants announced to everyone though. Shit. I have to think before I talk.

"Listen buddy, just because your momma put steroids in your baby bottle, doesn't mean I'm scared of you. I'm versed in both Klingon and Pandoran fighting styles. Don't make me hurt you."

What was with this kid?

I grabbed his arm and pulled it away from Chloe. "Listen . . ."

I was immediately surrounded by eight guys I could only refer to as nerds. Really agressive nerds.

"I see my comrades have joined me. Are you still so eager for a fight, Cro-Magnum?" As an aside to his friends he said "He obviously doesn't have the intelligence of a Neanderthal." To which there were plenty of guffawing snorts I assumed was their laughter.

If it had just been him, I could have picked him up and set him aside, but I know if I tried anything now, they'd all jump on me. I could have taken all of them, but I didn't know how to do it without hurting someone. I had a good look at their bones, they were sticking out of their skins like they were trying to break free, and they looked pretty fragile.

Chloe gave me a look that told me to leave it alone. She didn't want anyone getting hurt either, and I guess it was just one dance. "Fine" I turned back to Tori who was laughing. I took her back in my arms to have an excuse to stay on the dance floor next to Chloe just in case. I turned so I would be facing them again, and saw the jerk smirking at me as he inched his hands down to just above inappropriate. My jaw was clenched so tight I thought I was going to break my teeth. Just then I heard the comments starting around me.

"Awesome, they must have sprung for a fog machine."

I glanced over to where Simon had been standing. He was staring at the dance floor and concentrating. Tori was looking over too. "He'll never be able to do it on his own." and she started mumbling under her breath.

More comments started

"Wow, it makes the caf look so mysterious"

"Do you think it's broken? That's a lot of fog"

Then an adult "Someone find the damn machine and turn it off."

Once the fog was past most people heads, I heard Chloe give a gasp. Then there was a loud slap followed by a muttered "asshole, try to do someone a favor . . ." I ran over to where they'd been standing and grabbed her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, he took advantage of the fog and grabbed my butt" and after a pause she said incredulously "with both hands!"

I saw red. I started back to where the guy was but Chloe grabbed my arm. "I'm fine, just forget about it. Can we go now, please?"

She wanted the night to be over. My first date ever and I had failed it entirely.


	7. Dessert

**This is the last chapter. End of the date. Enjoy. (ty b&s)**

* * *

We said goodbye to Tori and Simon at the door. Derek offered them a ride home, but they said they wanted to stay a bit longer and dance with other people. Derek warned them to keep an eye on each other but left it at that.

After we got in the van, Derek started it and got back onto the main highway that went by our hotel. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. His jaw was clamped shut. This relationship would never go anywhere if I let him get away with his moods.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

His head whipped around and he looked at me. "What do you mean? I thought we were going back to the hotel."

"Do you want to go back to the hotel? I didn't think our date was over yet."

"It's not? But you said you wanted to leave the dance."

I laughed lightly. "The fun of going to a dance like that is having an excuse to dress up and go somewhere fancy for dinner. It's not really the dance itself. Especially if you don't know anyone there."

"Oh." A pause "What should we do then?"

"How about dessert? You didn't get to get one at the restaurant. I saw a Dairy Queen on this road, a little farther up. I don't want to go in though. Let's go through the drive thru."

Derek pulled up to the drive thru window. He ordered a large snickers blizzard and then looked at me. I leaned across him and ordered two cheeseburger, a coke, a large fry, a hot dog and a small strawberry sundae.

HIs lip quirked "Hungry?"

"Not really, but I'm guessing you are." I gave him a cheeky grin and he grunted a response. He didn't cancel the order.

We got our very large bag of food and drove off.

"Where to?"

"Somewhere quiet."

We kept on the main highway until we drove out of town. He ended up pulling off on a dirt road that drove into the forest that bracketed the highway. He drove for a while until he came to a small gravel widening in the road. He put the van in park and I got out. It was a beautiful night, as far out in the country as we were the stars were brilliant.

I went back into the van and pulled the blanket off the backseat. I spread it out on a grassy patch. I grabbed the bag of fast food and set it up on the blanket. Derek joined me. We ate in silence and then lay back on the blanket to look at the stars. I was able to pick out the big and little dippers, and I found Orion's belt. I pointed different things out to Derek until he grabbed my hand and held it against his chest.

I looked over at him, but he continued to stare at the stars. He cleared his throat and started talking in a voice dripping with sarcasm "I know this will come as a shock to you, but I've never been on a date before." Then he got serious "I tried to do everything right, but everything kept going wrong. Nothing was wrong with you, you were perfect. But first that fiasco at the restaurant, and then that guy at the dance. It's probably the worst date you've ever been on."

"Yes, it is the worst date I've ever been on." Derek's face fell, and he turned his head farther away from me. I gently cupped his chin and turned him back to me, "It's also the best. It doesn't have a whole lot of competition in either category considering it's the only date I've ever been on."

"What about ice cream with Simon?"

"Well, I prefer to think of that as going for a walk and ice cream with one of my friends. In the end that's all it was. And we're both pretending the kiss never happened."

"There was a kiss?"

"Oh, yeah . . .That's kind of what made me realize I didn't really like him that way."

A grunt.

"I can't believe you never went out at your old high school. You seem like you would make friends so easy."

"Really, I'm pretty shy. I moved a lot, and I was ok making friends, but they were quiet girls too. I never fell in with the popular crowd, or the fast crowd. So there weren't boys swarming around us all the time. It didn't help that I look three years younger than everyone in my classes."

Another grunt and then we were quiet for a while.

"So, that guy you were dancing with… I mean, I understand if you wanted to dance, but I would have danced with you…maybe… probably"

"Really?"

A sigh "No. I don't dance."

"You danced with Tori."

A loud groan "Don't remind me" I had to laugh, he sounded so put out. "If you hadn't up and disappeared it never would have happened." A pause "Did you really ask that guy to dance?"

"I did. But its not like you think. His mother was there and she was worried about him. Didn't seem to think he had any game. I figured it was a small thing to do. Easy to accomplish."

"So some woman approached you and asked you to dance with her son?"

"She was a ghost. She thought her dying when he was only five really skewed his social skills. I thought he was a pretty typical nerd. He'll struggle now, but by the time he's out of college he'll have figured things out."

We were quiet for a little longer, enjoying the silence of the night. Derek rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand. He studied me for a while, then started again. "I don't dance. But I don't think most of the people on that floor could either. It looked like they were just holding each other and swaying. I could do that. Do you want to try?"

"Here?"

"Why not? No one can see us, and I don't have to worry about people sneaking up behind me."

"Music?"

He started his horrible off key humming of Daydream Believer and stood up, palm extended down towards me.

I let him help me up. I'd taken off my shoes when we started walking into the dirt, the heels on them would have sunk into the ground, so now I was just standing on the blanket in my bare feet. I reached my arms up to put around his neck, but they were stretched pretty far. I felt like a little girl who has to stand on her dad's feet.

He laughed "You're too short" and picked me up so we were face to face. My legs wrapped around his waist. Our eyes met and we just looked for a long time. He hummed the first verse of the song and started slowly turning around in a circle.

I just watched him. Looking into his beautiful green eyes until he got to the chorus. I interrupted him then. "Thank you. This was a great night. Regardless of everything that went wrong. You did so many things right." I tightened my grip with my legs to get the leverage to lift my body up those last couple of inches to his mouth. His lips were soft and welcoming, kissing me back. When his tongue came out, mine was eager to meet it - the first touch contracting my stomach and causing my hips to buck against his stomach.

After awhile we broke apart panting. His hands were spanning my butt holding me up against him. It wasn't at all like that guy a the dance. It felt like they belonged there.

It was too intense, to fast. I panicked "I-I-I-I. . . ."

He smiled a slow smile at me. "I hope you don't think I'm the kind of guy that puts out on a first date." The tension was broken and he got an honest laugh out of me. I played along.

"I'd always thought werewolves were sure things."

"Don't tell me Tori's been lending you books. That stuff will rot your brain."

He let me down and we gathered up our blanket and garbage. We walked back to the van holding hands. "Thank you again, for everything. I really did have a good time. Best date I ever had."

He laughed. "We could try it again."

"I'd like that. But next time, maybe we could just go to a movie."

"Can I wear sweats?"

"Yes, and have an extra large butter popcorn, with free refills."

"Would I get to pick the show?"

I snorted. "Let's not get carried away."

**The end.**


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